The Marylander's Turkey Club

After trying a seafood club at a local restaurant that rendered Seth speechless, we decided we needed to make a similar version at home! The restaurant's version had shrimp salad, a crab cake, bacon and lettuce. 

Now, I'm not a fan of shrimp salad (or chicken salad or potato salad or macaroni salad), so we switched that out for the traditional turkey. 

My mother-in-law's birthday was last weekend, and after having crabs for dinner, we had A LOT of crab meat left over for the crab cakes :) Yum!

We're both huge fans of bacon too, so that stayed. I mean, who is not a fan of bacon??

Also, now that I'm a grown up lady, I will actually eat lettuce on my sandwiches! 

The result was delectable!

Sorry for the poor picture quality! I was too anxious to eat it :)

In other news, Seth and I harvested our potato crop last night from our garden. We were rather impressed with the potatoes we got this year :) Plus, I felt like such a farmer, even though Seth did most of the work and I just moved the pot around and picked up the potatoes that he missed! We also picked our first cucumber, and it got to be a very yummy addition to a salad at dinner last night :)

A Month In Pictures

My Little Sister is a Married Lady!!

I know I've taken quite a long break from blog writing, but I've been rather busy!

Mostly, I've been helping my sister get ready for her wedding :)

The wedding was this past Friday, July 6, and it could not have been more beautiful! My sister looked absolutely amazing, and she was so happy with her new hubby :)

We took this before we left the house to head to the mansion. She looks like such a pretty lady :)

It was my idea to take this picture, but we may have done a little damage to the bed! Oh, well! She doesn't need it anymore!

Here she is reading a letter Nathan wrote her about an hour before the ceremony. One of the groomsman's wives brought it over, so we cleared out of the room and let her read it in privacy, Except for the camera, obviously ;)

My brother ended up having to walk the flower girl and ring bearer down the aisle. They did such a great job though, and they certainly hammed it up the whole time :)

Doesn't she look so happy? Nathan too, of course :)

Us with our men! I think we chose pretty well!

It was impossible to get them both looking at the camera, but it was still a cute picture!

Such an attractive couple :)

Giving my matron-of-honor toast. I ended up breaking down and crying just a few sentences from the end!! I was so close!

She cried during the entire father-daughter dance. Many tissues were seen.

Unfortunately, they were boring and fed each other nicely.

Here's what we have so far of the professional pictures taken by Chavia Groveman (www.chaviagraphy.blogspot.com)

Gorgeous!!!

They're currently honeymooning in Jamaica. Seth and I pick them up from the airport on Monday, and I am so excited. I didn't think it would feel as weird when McKenzie got married since I didn't live at home, but I feel so funky without her. Like a part of me is missing! I can't wait for us to spend the rest of our lives with our men :)

Ground Beef Enchiladas

I know the above picture looks weird with only a third covered in cheese, but I live with a crazy cheese hater!

This recipe was fantastic!! It's probably one of my favorite Mexican recipes I made so far. 

I used to make a recipe with chicken in it, 

but it is much too complicated and I've only made it once since Seth and I got married.

This recipe, however, is much more simple.

And it's just as delicious!!

Ingredients:

-1 medium onion, finely chopped

-2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped

-3 garlic cloves, minced

-3 tbsp chili powder

-2 tsp cumin

-3 tsp sugar

-1 15 oz can of tomato sauce

-1 C water

-1 large tomato, chopped

-1 lb ground beef

-2 C shredded cheese (we used the Mexican blend)

-6 tortillas (burrito size)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 dish.

Cook ground beef until no longer pink.

Throw the onion and jalapeno in a skillet until softened, 8 min or so.

Mmmm! I love the smell of sauteing onions! :)

Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar to the pan. Toss around until fragrant, only about 30 seconds.

Add water, tomato sauce and tomato to the pan.

 Simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Once the sauce is done, mix half of it in with the ground beef. 

Prepare a work surface to fill the tortillas. Lay a tortilla on the counter, add a sprinkle of cheese, then a few spoonfuls of the beef/sauce mixture.

Roll the tortilla up tight. Place it in the greased dish, seam down, and repeat 5 more times. 

Spray the top of the tortillas with cooking spray, and put them in the oven for 7 minutes.

Reduce oven temp to 400 and take the pan out. Cover the tops with the remaining sauce and cheese. 

Cover with aluminum foil and put back in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Take out and cool 10 minutes before gobbling :)

Homemade Chips and Salsa

When I got home from work on Thursday, I was really craving some tortilla chips and salsa...

But we didn't have any!!

So, I decided making some fresh would be the next best option.

And it's soooo easy!

Tortilla Chips

Ingredients:

-tortillas (burrito-size)

-olive oil

-sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush the top of your tortilla with olive oil.

Taking a pizza cutter, cut the tortilla circle into 

eight equal pieces. 

Put the pieces on a cooking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.

You might also want to poke it with a fork because they puff up a lot while baking.

Put the chips in the oven for about ten minutes. Make sure to check them intermittently to make sure they're not burning too bad. 

Salsa

Ingredients:

1 14oz can diced tomatoes

1 10oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis

1/2 small onion, roughly chopped

1 peeled and smashed clove of garlic

a jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cumin

1 tbsp cilantro (this seemed like the perfect amount. I'm not a huge fan of cilantro and this amount didn't bother me)

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp red pepper flakes (or more depending on how spicy you want it)

Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until ingredients are at the desired consistency

Bridal Shower!!

I've been rather MIA as of late, but I have a good reason :)

My little sister's first bridal shower was this past Saturday, and I had so much fun planning! 

I think I had more fun planning her shower than attending my own :)

We had the shower at my cousin's Leslie house because she has such a pretty backyard. 

The weather was beautiful, 

and it make our shower set up look even better.

There was a lot of fun playing games, laughing and opening presents, and I was so excited to see my sister excited about her new life! 

Here's a bunch of shots of the day:

The centerpieces

The game table :) The basket was for the Clothespin Game.

Jones Soda is McKenzie's favorite, so we knew we needed some.

Especially Cream Soda!

Grandma playing "He Said, She Said" :)

I'm so glad all of the bridesmaids were able to make it!

With our mama!

The future bride and future flower girl

She was very confused over McKenzie's excitement about gifts

 she thought were rather boring :)

The future newlyweds!